Lee Il-cheol

Lee Il-cheol is the narrator of "Record of a Defection." He is married to Nam Myung-ok, who he believes is having an affair at the beginning of the story. He learns instead that she has been hiding her machinations on his behalf to improve his standing within the Communist Party. Il-cheol's father was executed for supposedly sabotaging his own crops to protest collectivized farming, and the family was sent into exile. As Il-cheol discovers that his wife is being harassed by a Party official, he makes the courageous decision to flee the country, as they will never be free there.

Nam Myung-ok

Nam Myung-ok is the wife of Lee Il-cheol in "Record of a Defection." Through her journal entries, it is revealed that she has been working tirelessly to improve her husband's standing in the Party, to no avail. She sees how their nephew, Min-hyuk, is mistreated...